Lake Orion Baptist edges four-time defending champion Kings 35-33

The Kings, who had won the last four straight Michigan Association of Christian Schools state championships, came up just shy of a fifth title on Saturday, falling 35-33 to Lake Orion Baptist in the MACS final at Swan Valley High School.

For CBA coach Heather Ouderkirk, who had announced earlier in the season that was stepping down after the tournament, the loss was tough but not without some gratification.

"You never want to go out by losing the championship game. But I think that going out (as state runners-up) was good, the way the girls fought and with the adversity we had this year with so many injuries," said Ouderkirk, who had guided the Kings to their previous four MACS titles. "This was a chance for the girls to show that they can still play (despite the adversity) and still step up, and I'm very proud of them."

In a game which went back and forth all evening long, Calvary led after each of the first three quarters but struggled with turnovers, empty possessions, and missed rebound opportunities down the stretch, while the Lions made some big shots in crunch time.

As Ouderkirk noted, she has been without her two primary ballhandlers, Courtney Warner (concussion) and Abbie Ouderkirk (torn ACL), for much of the season.

"Our Achilles heel is our ballhandling after losing Courtney and Abbie. Those were our senior ballhandlers, and these girls (who have taken their place), none of them were ever ballhandlers (before now)," Heather Ouderkirk said. "For them to step in and (get us) here, considering (their inexperience), was special."

LOB did a terrific job of fronting Calvary post player Bailee Hunger and keeping the ball out of her hands, particularly in the first quarter. Even so, CBA went on a 6-0 run on a putback by Vivian Befus, a midrange jumper by Cassady Holdeman, and a fastbreak layup by Caroline Holdeman to take an 11-7 lead. Keagan Cameron answered with a 3-pointer for the Lions to cut it to 11-10 heading to the second.

After getting no touches offensively in the first quarter, Hunger hit three of her first four shots in the second, helping the Kings extend to an 18-14 advantage before LOB scored the final three points of the half to make it 18-17 heading into the break.

The Lions tied it at 22-22 early in the third quarter, but CBA put together a 7-0 spurt on a 3-pointer by Cassady Holdeman, another fastbreak layup by Caroline Holdeman, and another putback by Befus to open up a 29-22 lead, the Kings' largest of the game. Calvary ended up settling for a 29-25 edge heading to the fourth.

Both teams really struggled to score in the fourth until LOB's Lauren Brundage hit the biggest shots of the contest — a 3-pointer which cut the deficit to 31-29 with 2:37 remaining and then another triple which gave the Lions the lead for good, 32-31, with 2:02 to go.

Lake Orion Baptist gave CBA numerous opportunities to catch up in the final minute, missing a number of free throws. But the Kings gave up two huge offensive rebounds to the Lions and eventually just ran out of time.

"Lake Orion is a very scrappy, very quick team," Ouderkirk said. "They work really hard, and I knew they were out for us, because we beat them (in the MACS final) last year.

" ... The biggest thing I'm going to remember from this year is the girls dealing with all of those injuries and not giving up. There were so many people who already had us (counted out)," Ouderkirk added. " ... I told the girls (earlier this season), 'We're not done yet.' That's the thing I'll remember — these girls stepping up and doing the best that they could."

Caroline Holdeman, a sophomore who took over the point guard spot following Ouderkirk's injury, echoed her coach's thoughts.

"I think we had a great season. We overcame so much," said Holdeman. "We just played our hearts out today."

Cameron finished with a game-high 16 points and 19 rebounds to lead the Lions but was held to four second-half free throws after scoring 12 in the first half.

"We went to a diamond-and-one (defense) in the second half and put Vivian (Befus) on Cameron, and she just shut her down," Ouderkirk said.

Brundage added 15 points for the Lions.

For CBA (12-7), Caroline Holdeman had nine points, five rebounds, and four assists, while Hunger had 19 rebounds but managed only six points, all in the second quarter.

"That was a big difference for us in this game," Ouderkirk admitted. "They took Bailee (Hunger) out of the offense."

Befus had eight points and nine rebounds for the Kings, while Cassady Holdeman finished with eight points and five rebounds, and Saige Arnold added eight boards.

Ouderkirk said that, after five years as CBA's head coach, she will enjoy stepping away and spending more time with her family.

"Abbie's going off to Northwood, and I still have a son who's 14, and I'll get to actually go to his games now," she said with a smile. " ... I'll get back to being 'Mom' again and going to his games and cheering from the other side (of the bench). And like I just told the girls, 'Next year, I want to be back here on the other side of the bench cheering for them (as a fan).'"